Another game, another loss. I guess Pacers fans better start getting used to this.
The Pacers, like they did in last season’s playoffs, fell behind early, but this time, failed to recover. They got within striking distance in the fourth thanks to a barrage of three-pointers and some great hustle plays from Chris Copeland, who led the team in scoring again with 21, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Final score, 102-92.
The Hawks are a good team this season that, provided they are injury-free, will threaten the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. The Pacers, with all their injury woes, are probably where the Hawks were last season — ie, hoping to sneak into the playoffs so they can make some noise.
At least this game was semi-competitive. Hibbert continued his strong play early on with 14 points on 8 shots, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Through 3 games he’s averaging 14.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocks. That’s better than his All-Star break numbers from last year but the Pacers’ record will likely keep him out this year.
Six Pacers finished in double figures. Apart from Hibbert and Copeland, Scola had 12, Solo had 10, Sloan had 14, and Miles had 10. But as a team they only shot 38.3%, and giving up 102 points at the other end is not going to cut it on most nights.
At least they’re giving the fans what they want, and that’ s a lot of Cope!
PS: Spark plug Rodney Stuckey only got 6 minutes because he aggravated a foot injury.
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